You have to learn how to effectively take breaks. If you are at a point where you feel you cannot delete your addictive apps, start to be at least staying off social media once a week. This is similar to keeping your phone away from you and can be scheduled on the same day when you are first starting out managing your issue.
Staying off social media will do wonders for your sense of self-trust. You will be proud of the level of self-control you will be exerting.
You may even decide to do a “social media cleanse.” This is similar to diet-related behaviors, except this term is regarding “brain food.” What you feed your mind is what will shape your thoughts, and social media is like junk food.
Imagine if you only ate chocolate bars and extra-cheese pizza all day, every day. You might enjoy the original dopamine rush at first, but by the end of the week your body would be destroyed and you would hardly be able to move your body comfortably. This is exactly what it is like to engage with social media too often. Social media is like a sugary dessert. You are healthiest when you restrain and only enjoy it once in a while, and reasonable portions.
Remember the statistic discussed earlier regarding the amount of time the average American spends on their phone? Up to half of the day can be spent screen-gazing. Now, imagine if you are strict with yourself about the time you spend on your phone – you can potentially get nearly nine years of your life back!
What will you do with all of this time you will suddenly have? You want to ensure that you are participating in actively engaging habits so that you will feel good about the time you spend away from your phone. This will encourage you to stick with your plan and maintain a healthier lifestyle.
Spend this time doing things that provide you with a sense of fulfillment. Not every moment of your life can be filled with joy and wonder, but you can spend a lot of it with loved ones. Spending time with people who give your life a purpose is very rewarding.
Likewise, if you fill your time with being in the company of the people you love, you will foster a sense of community. This is very important to your healing from an addiction, as the root is most likely coming from a feeling of being lonely and detached. If you feel detached from your community, you will be more likely to use social media to fill the void.
This will not solve the problem. This kind of thought mentality is like the snake that eats its own head. You will be creating more of a void and more of a sense of disconnect by doing this because you will be spending less time with people who care about you.
Sending a message is not as sincere as spending time making dinner together. Posting about a fundraiser is great, but volunteering your time to assist your community with a friend is even better.